JE Dunn Construction, founded in 1924, is the sixth-largest domestic general building contractor in the United States with offices in 26 locations. They endeavor to be an indispensable business partner, thoroughly understanding their client’s vision so they can deliver construction solutions that meet their needs.
For over 30 years, JE Dunn has worked hard to become a leader in the Nashville market. As a result, they have developed a strong reputation by successfully delivering a variety of high-profile projects in the Metro area. The team brings deep expertise across a wide range of markets, including industrial, manufacturing, healthcare, higher education, multi-family, office environments, and retail/mixed use/hospitality. They specialize in delivering large, complex projects with precision and consistency. Nashville has been fortunate to experience record-breaking growth in recent years, and JE Dunn is proud to play a part in the growth of Music City through a variety of innovative and exciting projects and initiatives.
Making History in Tennessee
In late 2022, JE Dunn was awarded a manufacturing facility project, the first facility of its kind outside the owner’s country of origin and the largest foreign direct investment in Tennessee’s history. This billion-dollar project has created over 800 jobs and positioned the state as a national leader in innovation.
JE Dunn was able to work collaboratively with the client to reduce project costs while maintaining the target construction duration, production capacity, and the overall quality of the facility’s product output. JE Dunn’s expertise allowed the team to improve the integration between the building and process, provide recommendations on how to adapt and comply processor operations to the U.S. regulatory environment, and engineer flexibility into the facility to accommodate technology evolution.
The Neuhoff District: Transforming German town
The Neuhoff Mixed-Use Development project transformed an historic meat-packing facility into a vibrant space in Nashville’s German town neighborhood. This 7-acre site on the Cumberland River’s west bank was repurposed into a mixed-use waterfront development, preserving the authentic feel of the German town neighborhood while introducing modern amenities.
Adapting a 100-year-old slaughterhouse into a Class A+ office and eclectic space for retail and restaurants is as much an art as a science. To assist the design team, JE Dunn conducted multiple laser scans of the existing buildings and overlayed these scans into detailed 3D models which incorporated existing elements and new construction. In collaboration with the structural engineer, JE Dunn developed new methodologies for repairing over 3,000 concrete beams, slabs, and columns while maintaining the authentic feel of early 20th century construction practices.
JE Dunn’s in-house engineers and programmers can design and fabricate just about any custom solution imaginable. These methods can also reduce onsite labor requirements by providing stairs, handrails, and chutes required for construction from a safe and controlled environment. JE Dunn is committed to doing everything within its power to ensure every individual is always safe, protecting the safety of not just their employees but also their employees’ families.
Stevenson Center Lab: Helping to Shape the Future of Vanderbilt University
JE Dunn is collaborating with Vanderbilt University on an exciting new project: the Stevenson Center Lab. The building will replace the Stevenson Center 6 building, which housed the university’s Department of Physics and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. This cutting-edge structure will offer occupants state-of-the-art, accessible and sustainable facilities. It will serve three different schools within one building – the College of Arts and Science, the School of Engineering, and the School of Medicine Basic Sciences. JE Dunn will utilize multi-trade prefabrication, participating in a design/assist process with mechanical, electrical, and lab technology trade partners and the design team, to facilitate installation of the dense and complex infrastructure in a building that sits at the heart of the Vanderbilt campus. This facility will unlock bold new opportunities for innovation, discovery, and interdisciplinary collaboration at Vanderbilt.
Prefabrication: JE Dunn’s One-of-its-Kind Facility in Nashville
To better meet demand and serve their clients, JE Dunn recently opened a new prefabrication facility in Nashville, leveraging innovative solutions to bring certainty and speed to market to their clients’ projects without sacrificing design and functionality. This prefabrication facility acts as a hub for the 70,000 square-foot prefab facility located near JE Dunn’s Kansas City headquarters, extending and expanding the reach and services provided. JE Dunn’s prefabrication and manufacturing methods consist of creating and crafting a building’s components off-site, and then assembling or fabricating in sections, and shipping and installing on-site to create a finished product. The benefits are numerous and include safer job sites along with schedule and cost certainty.
